What do you enjoy most about being a Fundraising Rep in Ohio?
The main thing I love is being able to connect and work together with passionate coaches. Years of being a coach leads to a wealth of knowledge about so many things: leadership, public speaking, organization, human psychology, parenting, etc. Additionally, they can tell unbelievable stories for hours; I love hearing a good story from coaches I work with; Whether it’s about a funny encounter about one of their athletes or about how the managed a huge comeback in one of their games. I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio so I couldn’t imagine doing this anywhere else. I am helping out all the schools that I heard about and watched while I was growing up.
What is the best part about being a Fundraising Coach + Sales Rep?
The team. The Gold Athletics team is growing rapidly with like minded individuals who are dedicated to seeing each other succeed. There are 4-5 veteran sales reps who combine for over 100 years of experience in the industry. Having these veteran reps on the team is awesome because they care about sharing their wealth of knowledge with the rest of the team. The veterans are always willing to share their thoughts on any situation that may come up for a rep with less experience. Also to mention is the team behind the scenes. GA has a dedicated team behind the scenes that works very hard to make sure the fundraising process is a well oiled machine.
How'd you get into Sports Fundraising at Gold Athletics?
It really fell into my lap. I love sales and have had nothing but sales jobs since high school. So, I knew I wanted to get into sales. I also knew I didn’t want an office job where I had to go into an office and sit at a computer all day. I ended up taking the interview because it sounded pretty interesting. I didn’t realize that the industry was so massive and I was sold on GA because of the vision that Matt presented for the long term success of the company. I felt that this would be a good opportunity to get into something that I would enjoy long term. Also something I can do long term that would support a family someday.
What didn’t you know before you got into the industry that you wish someone had told you?
You need to be OVERLY organized. I’ve never been an extremely organized person, but I learned quickly that organization is super key to being successful. I now have a couple whiteboards in my office, a daily notebook, and a couple calendars to keep everything on my plate as straight as it can be.
What would you tell someone hoping to enter your field?
The obvious thing is that you must be open to public speaking. You get in front of some groups with 100+ people and you have to be open to learning to becoming good at that. Also, you need to be confident or willing to learn to be confident. I think a lot of these coaches can sniff out unconfident words/actions and that isn’t what they want to work with. They want to work with someone that is confident in the value that they can provide to a program. Also, you need to be self disciplined. Working from home and starting to build a territory requires discipline and determination. You don’t have anyone holding your hand throughout the process. You will get a lot of guidance, but it is on you to make everything happen.
How would you describe the company culture at GA in three words?
Trusting, Collaborative, and Transparent.
What is one thing that makes you perfect for this job? And one thing you are striving towards in your role?
One thing that makes me good at this job is that I am very charismatic. Coaches want to work with someone that they like and I think that helps me a lot. One thing I am striving for in my role is proving my worth. I want the coaches I work with to understand the value I bring to their program and I want them to want to work with me, year after year.
What is changing in the fundraising industry?
TECHNOLOGY. The world is rapidly evolving and we are becoming heavily reliant on technology. Same goes for this industry. Companies that are not investing in technology will be far behind in a few years. Companies that are investing in technology are creating a competitive advantage for themselves.
How will your role evolve in five, or ten years? How will it get there?
Right now my role is extremely heavy on developing my territory with good groups. In 5 years my role will shift to less cold calls trying to get new groups and more trying to strengthen my territory by adding a few new groups a year. My relationships with my coaches are just starting out so my role will also be to continue to strengthen those relationships with my coaches. I also want to manage reps within 5 years. So my role with shift to training, teaching, and guiding my reps throughout their journey. I will become focused on their success as well. In 10 years, I want to be managing multiple reps. To get to these milestones I need to continue to work with good groups. Referencing is huge in this industry. If I can say I do a good job with this school and that school, the coach I am looking to talk to will be more open to talk to me.
What kind of person would do well in your role?
A go getter type of person. Self disciplined. Organized. Confident. People person
Keep up with Fundraising Coach Rob Muniak on social media!
Twitter: Robby Muniak
ABOUT Gold Athletics is dedicated to career development while servicing the experience for not just Coaches, Supporters and Players, but employees and team members, too! The 'Interview with a Sales Rep' series was created to reach future employees and share GA's company culture, proudly. We are on a roll, sourcing top talent and showing the world what our team is made of. In order to build relationships with current and future reps, we are sharing our Fundraising Reps experience working with the team, about the industry and how we're making waves in today’s world of Sports Fundraising. Company culture is important to us and we want to share the in's and out's, on a more personal level!
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